Golf club



June 21, 1938. F, H R' 2,121,387

GOLF CLUB Filed July 24, 1934 V I NVENTOR. FRED CHOUSER ATTORNEY.

Patented June 21, 1938 TE STATES PATENT OFFICE GOLF CLUB Fred C. Houser,Chicago, Ill.

Application July 24, 1934, Serial No. 736,659 3 emails. (o1. 273-80) Myinvention relates in general to golf clubs andmore'in particular to anew shaft for a golf club in an improved head mounting, and as such isan improvement over the structure disclosed I; in my pendingapplication, Serial No. 715,055.

r In the ordinary golf club there is usually some amount of flexibilityor whippiness in the shaft. Inthe clubs in use at the present time,however, the whippiness extends over the entire shaft to cause it to bowfrom grip to head when executing a golf stroke. Although the expertgolfer maybe able to execute his stroke properly with this type of club,the ordinary golfer, constituting by far the largest proportion of thearmy of enthusiasts, will be hampered by the .action of the club. Withthe whippiness extending over the length of the shaft and up into thegrip on the club, it has been found that as the shaft bows, pressure isexerted against the hands on 2, the grip in a manner tending to loosenthe fingers, which may cause the player to unconsciously shift his gripand spoil the execution of his stroke. The whippiness over the entireshaft also upsets perfect timing and execution of the stroke.

It is an object of my invention to provide an improved golf club.

One of the features of the golf club of my invention is theprovision ofa shaft in which the v whippiness is centered near the club head.

'Another feature of the invention is the provision of a lighter club togive all of the advantages and qualities of the present heavier club.

A further feature is the provision of a shaft 35 which is rigid at theupper or grip portion and flexible at the lower portion near the head ofthe club.

A still further feature of my invention is the provision of a mountingfor the shaft in the club 40. head which makes it possible to use ashaft which is very thin at the head, and still prevent torsion fromoccurring. v

Other objects and features of my invention will be apparent from thefollowing description taken with the drawing, in which:

' Fig. 1 is an elevation of the entire. club.

Fig. 2 is an elevation partly in section of the bushingfor mounting theshaft in the club head. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of theshaft mounting.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view in section of the lower portionof the shaft mounting "in the head of the club.

thef mounting bushing.

Fig. 6 is an elevation of the club shaft illustrating the manner inwhich the whippiness operates to bow the shaft adjacent the clubhead;and i Fig. '7 is a fragmentary front elevation of the club grip withhand-position markings thereon.

In practicing my invention I provide a golf club rigid at the gripportion and whippy near the head, which club has a tubular shaft with asubstantial taper from the top to theflbottom thereof mounted with a twopoint fastening in a bushing in the club head.

Referring now to the drawing, I provide a golf club with a tubular steelshaft in having a grip H at one end and a club head 12 secured at theother end. Whereas it is ordinarily impossible to use a shaft eithertubular or solid which has a very small diameter at the lower portion,because of torsion occurring at the club head or excessive whippinessoccurring over the shaft, by the use of a club head mounting of myinvention I utilize a tubular shaft which extends from a top of largediameter to a base of exceptionally small diameter providing aconsiderable taper over the entire length. In the commercial embodimentof the invention I have successfully used, for example, a shaft 42inches long, which is inch in diameter at the top and 1% inch indiameter at the bottom. The shaft itself is of the usual tubular stock.As stated, a shaft of these dimensions at the bottom mounted in a clubhead would ordinarily cause torsion or twisting of the shaft at the clubhead as the golf stroke is executed, so as to change the direction ofmovement ofthe head and cause the ball to either be sliced or hookedwhen hit. This is overcome by mounting the shaft in a brass bushing l3which comprises a tube adapted to fit within the bore 14 of the hosel I6of the club head and tapered at the neck H to fit snugly around theoutside of the shaft [0. This is illustrated particularly in Fig. 3. Themounting also absorbs some of the shock of impact of the club headagainst the ball to make play with the club more enjoyable and cause adesired amount of relaxation in the grip of the hands on the gripportion 1 l.

A commercial embodiment of this part l3 of the club which has worked outvery successfully, comprises a brass tubing 5 inches in length having anoutside diameter of inch over theelongated straight portion I8 andtapering to -1 inch at the top of the neck portion It. The neck portionI! is one inch in length, and the elongated shank I8 is four inches inlength. Although the diameter of the shaft I0 has been given as fi inchat the lower end, it is so slight a graduation or taper on the last fiveinches that the diameter of {e inch at the top of the neck portion IIhas been found sufficient to make it possible to force the bushing up tothe desired position on the club shaft. Although the standard club headand particularly the wooden club head has a taper in the bore 14, I havefound it more satisfactory to provide the bushing with a straight shankI8, thereby necessitating a straight bore 14 in the shaft opening in thehead. In the commercial embodiment the brass tubing used for the bushingI3 has a wall .016 inch thick. This, however, can be varied slightly,particularly to change the weight of the club.

In assembling the shaft in the club head, the bushing I3 is firstslipped over the small end of the shaft ID to a position whereby thelower portion of the shaft is adjacent the opening I9 of the bushing.The tapered neck I! serves to center the shaft in the bushing at thatend and a jig may be used to center the shaft at the lower end. A pieceof solder may be dropped into the bushing and the neck I! heated to meltthe solder so as to occupy the space between the shaft and bushing overapproximately the length of the neck 11.

Inasmuch as the outside diameter of the shank I8 is %.2- inch and theshaft I0 approximately 1% inch, there is a substantial air space betweenthe shaft and the inside wall of the bushing. After the solder, asillustrated at 2! in Fig. 3, becomes hardened, the bushing is removedfrom the jig and a washer 22 slipped over the end of the shaft to theposition shown in Figs. 3 and 4. Satisfactory results have been obtainedwith a washer which has a slight taper along the outer edge which willdrive into the space between the shaft and inside wall of the bushingwith a wedging action so as to maintain the shaft rigidly centered inthe bushing. After inserting the bushing solder 23 may be melted at theopening of the bushing to firmly secure the shaft washer and bushingtogether at that point. The solder fastening 2| cooperating with thetapered neck I! serves to strengthen the club at this point as well asrigidly secure the shaft, and the washer 22 and solder fastening at thispoint serve to make the club more sturdy. The shaft-bushing assembly maythen be inserted in the bore M of the club head and forced down to theposition shown in Fig. 3. Glue or cement may first be brushed onto theoutside of the bushing so as to provide a more rigid connection betweenthe club head and the assembly. An aperture 24 may then be drilledthrough the end of the shaft, solder and the bushing, into the club headas shown in Fig. 4, and a wood screw 26 inserted in the mannerillustrated to provide further fastening at this portion of the clubhead. The amount of solder in the assemblymay be varied slightly tochange the weight of the club head.

Although excessive flexibility or whippiness in a golf club shaft isobjectionable, a certain amount may be utilized to good advantage ifproperly controlled. A certain amount of whippiness in the shaft helpsto absorb a portion of the shock as the club head hits the ball.Whippiness if properly positioned, may also be used to advantage to givean added snap to the club as it strikes the ball, to increase the loftof the ball in its flight. This same result may also be attained to someextent by a final snap of the wrist in the execution of a golf stroke.In general, however, it is only the expert who can successfullyaccomplish this, and the controlled whippiness becomes very important tothe average golfer to attain the desired loft. This feature isparticularly helpful to the lady golfer with her weaker wrist action.However, in the golf clubs in use at the present time with thewhippiness extending over the entire club shaft, it becomes almostimpossible to utilize this feature to any advantage, and in fact itactually produces a harmful effect on the golf stroke. This extensivewhippiness upsets the proper timing of the golf stroke and as statedabove, exerts a pressure against the hands on the grip such as tounconsciously cause the player to loosen his fingers and often shift hisgrip on the club. However, with the substantial taper provided with mytubular steel shaft, the large diameter at the top results in a veryrigid portion extending considerably below the grip H, and allwhippiness is centered in the shaft in a space approximately between 7to 15 inches above the lower end of said shaft. The taper of the shaftgoverns the position and amount of whippiness, and although a shaft ofthe dimensions noted above has proven very satisfactory, it isunderstood of course that I may employ slight variations from thesefigures to throw the whippiness either up or down on the shaft.

The use of a tapered shaft of a large diameter at the top has been foundadvantageous in that little or no listing or padding is required underthe leather grip I I to bring it to the desired size for comfortablegripping. This is important in providing a more .sensitive contactbetween the shaft itself and the hands of the player, and is importantfrom a manufacturing standpoint in reducing the cost of materials andlabor.

As a further aid to the proper execution of a golf stroke, I provideV-shaped hand position markings 2'! and 28 on the grip II. They may bemarked on the grip in a position so as to fit on the crotch between thethumb and forefinger of each hand as one lies above the other on thegrip.

It may thus be seen that I provide a neat, simple golf club utilizing myinvention in either a wood or an iron. With the controlled whippiness,the club may be swung with a slightly faster stroke without disruptingthe path of the swing, to give increased power. It has been found thatgreater distance for the ball is obtained with less effeort to bringabout greater relaxation for the entire game.

Although I have described my invention in its preferred embodiment, andas applied to a wooden club, it is understood that I am not limitedthereby, that the invention may also be applied to an iron club, andthat the invention is limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A golf club including a one-piece club head having an elongated neckwith a central bore, a tapered shaft for said club head secured in saidbore, and means for securing said shaft in said head, said meansincluding a tubular metal bushing in said bore secured to said clubhead, and fusible material at the top of the bushing and extendingannularly between the shaft and bushing to fuse the same into a positiveconnection, a non-fusible washer surrounding said shaft and within thebushing near the lower portion of the bushing, and fusible material atthe bottom of the bushing extending annularly between the shaft andbushing to fuse the same into a positive connection, with an air spaceprovided between the shaft and bushing intermediate the top securingmeans and said washer.

2. A golf club including a club head with the usual elongated neckhaving a central bore, a flexible shaft for said club head, means forsecuring the shaft to the club head, said means including a metaltubular bushing carried in the bore of the neck for carrying the shaft,with said shaft rigidly secured tothe bushing in two spacedapart points,but maintained out of direct engagement with said bushing between saidpoints.

3. A golf club including a club head having an elongated neck with acentral bore, a tubular bushing rigidly secured in said central bore andextending substantially the length thereof, carrying a tapered shafttherein for said club head, and fastening means securing said shaft tosaid bushing at two spaced-apart points with an air space between saidshaft and bushing intermediate said two points.

FRED C. HOUSER.

